Philip the Good

Philip the Good (31 July 1396-15 June 1467) was Duke of Burgundy from 10 September 1419 to 15 June 1467, succeeding John the Fearless and preceding Charles the Bold. During the Hundred Years' War, Philip frequently switched sides between England and France to protect his domains, which included Flanders, Limburg, Brabant, Artois, Hainaut, Holland, Zeeland, Friesland, and Namur.

Biography
Philip the Good was born in Dijon, Duchy of Burgundy, France on 31 July 1396, the son of Duke John the Fearless and Margaret of Bavaria. In 1405, he was made Count of Charolais, and he married Michelle of Valois, a daughter of King Charles VI of France and Isnabeau of Bavaria, in 1409. Upon the assassination of his father in 1419, he became the new Duke of Burgundy, and he became the new leader of the Burgundian party. In 1420, he allied with King Henry V of England against the rival Armagnac party, and his forces captured Joan of Arc at the Siege of Compiegne in 1430 and handed her over to England for execution. In 1435, however, he recognized King Charles VII of France as the legitimate ruler of France, breaking the Treaty of Troyes. He did so because of his desire to remain the preeminent duke in France, but this was a poor choice; the House of Valois centralized power and destroyed Burgundy's autonomy, fearing another civil war. However, Philip managed to expand his empire with the purchase of Namur in 1429, the seizure of Holland, Friesland, and Zeeland in 1432 during a war with Jacqueline, Countess of Hainaut, the inheritance of Brabant and Limburg, and the purchase of Luxembourg in 1443. In 1463, he created an Estates-General for the Burgundian Netherlands based on the French model, and he crushed two rebellions in Liege in 1465 and 1467. He died in 1467, and he was remembered as a powerful duke and a patron of the arts during the Northern Renaissance.